New York’s Reproductive Health Act, passed last week, “codifies [abortion] law from 1973,” according to Governor Andrew Cuomo — meaning the New York law is just like Roe v. Wade and its companion decision, Doe v. Bolton, which legalized abortion for any “health” reason, including even “emotional” or “familial” health, at any time during pregnancy.
After the law went into effect, outraged doctors began speaking out, proclaiming that third trimester abortions never need to be done to save a mother’s life or health. One of those physicians, Omar Hamada, a former Army surgeon and practicing OB/GYN from Nashville, Tennessee, posted his thoughts on Twitter, and was subsequently invited to speak on FOX about the issue, where he again asserted that in his professional, medical opinion, there is absolutely no reason to purposely kill a child in the third trimester of pregnancy.
READ: Four myths about New York’s new abortion law… and the truth
Dr. Hamada told the FOX News host, “Basically in the third trimester of pregnancy, there is not a single condition that requires… that we kill the baby before delivery. There are several things in third trimester pregnancy that require that we deliver the mother… but there is not a single thing that actually requires us to kill the child.”
He added more details about New York’s law, saying, “It does three things. It actually removes all the protection for the fetus by removing any homicidal protection. So before, the New York penal code basically stated that after 24 weeks, if a baby was killed, there was a risk of the perpetrator being charged with a homicide. That’s been removed. It allows for any healthcare practitioner that’s licensed or authorized… to perform an abortion, so it doesn’t have to be a physician. And it removes all restrictions… for any type of abortion at any time for any reason.”
Dr. Hamada said he has already been attacked for his stance against third trimester abortions. He told FOX, “I’ve gotten some death threats already… on social media… they’ve done some other untowardly things trying to shut me up, I think…. There’s no desire for common ground…. They want to invalidate and destroy….”
As for the repercussions of such a law, Dr. Hamada says, “I think it’s going to… increase the number of abortions that are done in the state of New York, and it’s going to have people gravitate toward that state where other states are more restrictive.”
Hamada notes that his home state of Tennessee is currently trying to pass a heartbeat bill like Iowa did, “to protect life.” An Iowa judge, however, recently struck down Iowa’s law, labeling the preborn child with a detectable heartbeat as “potential life.” The state may appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.
Children in the first trimester, despite this judge’s labeling of them as “potential life,” are actually amazingly complex. The heart begins to beat between 16 and 21 days after fertilization, and between weeks six and seven, brain waves begin, and sex organs form. A preborn baby at this age can even have hiccups and move his hands, feet, and legs.
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